FAQs

External SSD

A: The external SSD was developed for Windows, Mac OS, and Android. When connected to devices running any other operating system (such as Linux or Windows Phone), the external SSD may not be recognized or its functions may be restricted depending on the device.

A: A：While most USB devices such as external hard drives, external SSDs, and Flash drives can be plugged and unplugged at will, do avoid doing so when they are active. If you unplug a storage device or a removable drive from your computer while it\'s transferring or saving information, you risk data loss or corruption. If in doubt, use the Windows “Safely Remove Hardware” feature, which stops drive operations and then ends the connection between it and the host computer safely.

Q5:
【OTHER TECHNICAL QUESTIONS】Why is my device reporting the external SSD has less capacity than advertised?

A: The actual drive capacity displayed on your device will vary from external SSD physical capacity due to mandatory operating system formatting and partitioning. Typically, operating systems remove 10-20% of drive physical capacity. This means a 250GB external SSD will have around 232GB free once it is fully formatted and detected by a supported operating system

A: Actual speeds may vary depending on your specific device configuration and the type of data being transferred. In addition, it may vary from cables and adapter types. For example, the SE730 supports maximum data speeds of 500 MB/s in a Windows PC environment with USB 3.1 Gen 2 and UASP Mode support. If you use a USB Type-C to USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 adapter, speeds will be lower. If UASP mode isn’t supported on the host device, the SE730 may also operate at lower speeds

A: 1. Connect the drive to your Mac
2. Open Disk Utility. The easiest way to do that is pressing CMD and the spacebar at the same time and typing Disk Utility to find the program
3. Select the drive you want to format
4. Click Erase
If you don\'t plan on using the drive for Time Machine, skip steps 5 to 11 below and continue with step 12
5. Give the drive an easy to remember name and leave default settings unchanged: OS X Extended format and GUID partition map. These will format the drive in the OS X HFS+ file type for Time Machine compatibility
6. Click Erase and OS X will format the drive
7. With the drive selected in Disk Utility, click Partition
8. Enter the space you want to set aside for Time Machine. In our example, we\'re using 128GB rather than the whole drive
9. Click Apply
10. Select the new untitled partition to format it as exFAT for use with both Mac OS and Windows
11. Click Erase
12. Give the partition a name and select exFAT
13. Click Erase to finish the process
14. Formatting complete
Your exFAT-formatted drive or partition can be used with Windows and Mac OS. Note that moving it frequently between Windows and Mac OS may increase the risk of file corruption, so make sure you have backups of the files on drives you share between the two operating systems. Additionally, follow safe drive connect/disconnect procedures at all times

A: 1. Connect the drive to your Windows PC
2. Open the Disk Management tool. You can do that by typing "disk format" or "disk management" in Windows search or going to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Create and format hard disk partitions
3. Right-click on the external drive partition or the unallocated space you want to format and choose New Simple Volume
4. Follow instructions to choose a volume size
5. Assign a drive letter
6. Choose the file system in the Format Partition screen
7. Give the volume a new name
8. Click Next
9. Click Finish
10. Formatting complete

Q9:
【OTHER TECHNICAL QUESTIONS】What’s UASP?

A: UASP stands for USB Attached SCSI Protocol. It combines SCSI commands and USB standards to accelerate data movement and make file transfers more efficient. If your device does not support UASP, you may update it from the device manufacturer website, as UASP functionality can be added via firmware or operating system update.

Q10:
【OTHER DEVICES】How to connect the external SSD to a smart TV?

A: Most new TVs support photo, music, and video playback from external storage via USB. However, not all TVs support this function and file system compatibility may vary. When connecting the external SSD to a TV, please check the following:
- After connecting the external SSD to the TV USB port, check if the external SSD is recognized in the TV menu
- If it isn’t recognized, please refer to the TV user manual or contact the manufacturer to check for USB support
- If it is recognized, check that you can play videos and music and view photos stored on the external SSD without any issues
- In case content can’t be accessed, verify which file systems are supported by your TV for external storage. The external SSD is formatted using the NTFS file system by default
- Follow any prompts from your TV operating system relating to the external SSD formatting. Modern TVs will auto-format external storage to a supported file system
■Important: formatting will delete all data. Please backup your data before proceeding
If the file system is supported but you still can’t access content, verify the file types and extensions supported by the TV. Some file types may not be supported, preventing video and audio playback and photo display. For additional details about your device, please refer to its user manual or contact the manufacturer

Q11:
【ANDROID MOBILE DEVICE】Why does my mobile device OS freeze when I connect it to the external SSD while using certain security apps, such as anti-virus programs or device cleaners?

A: There may be compatibility issues with certain security programs for mobile devices that are completely unrelated to the external SSD. Most Android device manufacturers themselves do not guarantee compatibility with such apps. If the OS of your mobile device freezes, reboot the mobile device. If this fails, please contact the device manufacturer.

Q12:
【ANDROID MOBILE DEVICE】I disconnected the USB Type-C (OTG) cable after checking that file copying is complete in the status bar of the mobile device, and now I can’t open the files I just copied

A: We recommend that you use the Safely Remove Device function before disconnecting the cable between the external SSD and your Android device. Failing to do this may cause copied files to become corrupted and unreadable.

Q13:
【pc】The external SSD isn’t recognized by my PC

A: Make sure the external SSD is securely connected to a USB port. Detection failure may be related to a faulty USB port. If possible, try connecting the external SSD to another USB port. If detection issues persist, please contact ADATA customer service

Q14:
【pc】I can’t copy files to the external SSD from my Windows PC

A: If the external SSD loses power or is unplugged in an unsecure manner, Windows may prevent files from being copied to it. This is a Windows protective measure associated with the file system and does not mean the external SSD has a technical issue. You can try resolving this using the following steps:
- Click the “Scan and Fix” notification that appears when you connect the external SSD to your PC
- If you closed the notification, right-click on the external SSD icon in the system tray (notification area) and use the “Run CHKDSK” command
- If the external SSD icon isn’t displayed in the system tray, open Explorer and select the external SSD, then right-click, Properties, Tools, Check